More Functional Art

I’ve been working on some more functional art for Matter Gallery in Olympia. It was fun working on the pieces and a little hard to hand them off  – like saying good-bye to your children. Check out their shop either online or in person, Olympia is full of interesting places to visit!

Collage with brass stencils, ephemera, tape measure and a window pulley.

Chalkboard from plywood, brass stencils, old oil company measuring stick.

Hooks with “zip” letters, ephemera, old fir.

Collage with old measuring tape, brass stencils, ephemera and fir flooring.

Cupboard made from an old drawer, old door, insulator, and pressure gauge.

Detail of the old pressure gauge.

Collage/mirror made from old fir, auto mirror, “zip” letters and ephemera.

You can see more functional art here.

This Plus That Equals: Industrial Coffee Table

We found these HUGE casters at Second Use (where else?) and immediately thought “coffee table”. (Actually what I immediately thought was that the husband would kill me if I brought home another big metal piece of randomness – like this and this and this.)

8″ diameter industrial casters.

Planks from RE-Store, planed.

Old Gas Can from Habitat for Humanity.

If you like this post, you may also like:

Bathroom Using Salvaged Materials, https://hammerlikeagirl.wordpress.com/2013/04/28/bathroom-design-using-salvaged-materials/

Reclaimed vowel. http://wp.me/p1VSGx-19D

Attic Access, https://hammerlikeagirl.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/designing-with-street-signs/

Pillows using Grain Stencils, https://hammerlikeagirl.wordpress.com/2012/12/22/pillows/

Handmade Holiday Market

We are excited to announce that we will be participating in Second Use Building Materials’ first-ever Handmade Holiday Market. It will be held Sunday, December 1st from 11am to 4pm at Second Use (3223 6th Ave S, Seattle, WA). Come visit us and see what we’ve been up to! We’ll have lots of holiday gifts and home accessories made from salvaged material – framed art, memo books, wrapping paper, lighting, tables, cupboards and more.

Caster Coffee Table

Car jack. https://hammerlikeagirl.wordpress.com/2013/10/03/this-plus-that-equals-a-lamp/

Holiday Wrapping Paper + Gift Tags

Magnolia Branch Coasters

North Dakota Pendant Light

Granary Stencilled Pillow Shams

Street Sign Key Box

Level Coat Rack

Copper Spool Lamp

Street Sign Hook

Tree Slab Side Table

Anchor Bolt Pillow

Street Sign Side Table

Chalkboard Cupboard

Street Sign Memo Pad

Framed Specimen Print

Industrial Side Table

Gift Ideas – 11 Artists We Love

We spent an afternoon cruising the aisles of the Urban Craft Uprising in Seattle last weekend.

It was inspiring to meet so many talented people and to see their amazingly creative work. Plus we had some holiday shopping to do and there is nothing like handmade and/or local to counteract the frenzy going on all around this time of year.

Visit their sites by clicking on the photo, and even order some things if you likey, too :). We vouch for the quality of all that we’ve included in this post. Have fun surfing…we did.

Mod Podge a Salvaged Window

We always see cool, old, beautiful windows – whether in salvage yards or being given away along the curb. It is hard to know what do with these great old relics – a person only needs so many greenhouses! We found a way to re-purpose a window into a “vintage” sign with coat hooks, using Mod Podge (of course!) and clip art.

Make: Lamp from Tripod and Lampshade from Ductwork

I know I said a few weeks ago that we were going to get started on utilitarian house projects soon. Well, not quite yet… because first we had to make this old tripod into a floor lamp. And here’s Monica, reading the paper by the light of the finished lamp (when she should be caulking or doing something useful!).

We found this old telescope tripod at 2nd Use Building Materials. It was very cool – a silverish patina on the wood, with black metal details. Our friend Cliff said “Hey, you should make a floor lamp!”. Ok, that sounds more fun than caulking any day.

Patio Fire Pit: Re-purposed Scrap Metal Box

Roasted marshmallows, smores and warmth out the back door. SWEET!

I had a rusting scrap metal box that Heidi gave me when she and her husband decided to purge some of their….treasures. Lucky me! She originally got it at one of our favorite spots, ReStore. It sat in her garage for a couple of years and then literally sat up-ended in my back yard for another 6-7 years. Getting more and more beautiful with exposure all the while.

Field Trip – Ideas are flowing

Old Seattle street lamp. Kitchen pendant light?

We are down one girl this week. Monica is out-of-town with her family. Heidi and I decided to go on a field trip to one of our favorite places. We needed some inspiration and just felt like roaming the aisles of ReStore.

Salvaged Metal Cupboard

When I brought this old metal cupboard home from RE-Store, this is the reaction I got from my friends and family:

13 year old daughter: “You paid money for that?”

Monica: “I’m not seeing it.”

Husband: “Where are you going to put that?”

A little offended and put-out, I went to work cleaning it up. (After first letting it sit in the garage for about 3 months.) The steps:

Industrial Candle Holders from Flag Brackets

Here is an easy idea for industrial looking candle holders. Use flag brackets. I got these at Second Use Building Materials, but there are new ones available online.